Jun Kaneko’s Designs Invigorate Opera

In May 2014, Washington National Opera celebrated its sixth season of free opera simulcasts at Nationals Park with Opera in the Outfield performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved classic The Magic Flute on Saturday, May 3, 2014. Sung in English and featuring a colorful kaleidoscope of sets and costumes by American artist Jun Kaneko (born Japan, 1942), The Magic Flute opera was broadcast live from the Kennedy Center Opera House to the high-definition scoreboard at the ballpark.

Jun Kaneko’s colorful “Magic Flute” is a technical tour de force, with continuous video imagery weaving through the onstage action, coming from a battery of projectors: more than 1,000 distinct media clips.“Magic Flute” set sketch by Jun Kaneko. (Courtesy of Kaneko Studio/Courtesy of Kaneko Studio)he Washington National Opera’s “The Magic Flute” with set design by Jun Kaneko. (Cory Weaver/For the San Francisco Opera/For the San Francisco Opera)